Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to a buffing pad for polishing the surface of an item. More particularly, the buffing pad includes a plurality of indentations for improved polishing performance.
Description of the Related Art
Attempts are constantly being made, by both manufacturers and aftermarket industries, to improve the visual appearance of painted surfaces, for example, the painted surface exteriors of vehicles. In particular, there are numerous cleaning, waxing, and polishing compositions and applicators on the market to restore the aesthetic appearance of painted surfaces created over time by scratches, dust, and hazing. Typically, these polishing products use an abrasive material or composition to remove surface defects in a “buffing” process, but by doing so can leave a level of scuff or “swirl” marks that also needs to be removed to achieve a satisfactory level of aesthetic performance. The swirl is hence removed via a “finishing” process. The finishing process, however, typically leaves behind a certain level of “haze” that is difficult to remove completely or even to a satisfactory level. In particular, it is all too common for the haze to be difficult or impossible to see by the naked eye in typical detailing situations, for example in the shade or indoor lighting, but becomes apparent when brought into bright sunlight.
Polishing processes typically use a “buffing pad” to apply polishing products in the steps described above. These buffing pads may either be used manually, or attached to power tools to increase the efficiency of the process. The buffing pads are typically compressible to allow for the application of even pressure to the painted surface being worked, and are typically made from a polymeric foam substance. As described above, there are certain performance factors in the polishing process, which tend to be inversely related to each other. That is, one desires to have a high level of “cut” (the rate at which the pad removes surface defects) in order to speedily and efficiently allow the polishing process to occur in a reasonable time. However, the higher the level of cut, typically increases the level of haze left behind. A second performance factor in the polishing process is the level of “finish”, that is, how much haze is ultimately left behind on the surface at the end of the polishing process. It has been difficult in the past to produce a buffing pad that has both a high level of cut and a high level of finish, as performance increases in one factor would typically tend to diminish the performance of the other factor. Thus, there is a need in the art for a buffing pad that is able to achieve both a high level of cut and a high level of finish during a polishing process.